EXHIBITION

NATURE TRACERS

21.12.2022 –
21.05.2023

ΜΟΜus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection

Artists: Aikaterini Gegisian, Alexandra Marati – Anna Vadakoglou, Kiril Prashkov

Curator: Maria Tsantsanoglou

Exhibition supporter: BIOS AGROSYSTEMS 

The participating artists Alexandra Marati – Anna Vdakoglou, Aikaterini Gegisian and Kiril Prashkov become nature tracers and awake our senses through “biodynamic gardens”, projecting in a visual way the biological cycles of the earth and untinately of our lives, altering known works of art and giving them an unexpected sleight of hand. 

Alexandra Marati, in collaboration with the architect Anna Vadakoglou, has created a delimited “biodynamic garden” inspired by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, according to whom the cultivation of the soil with care and careful selection of soil, seeds and plants is a mystery with a metaphysical dimension, but at the same time it is the basic condition for successful organic agriculture. In the “biodynamic garden” visitors experience the uniqueness of an atmosphere that awakens the senses. According to the artist, the installation, based on studied ecological material, invites the viewer to transfer his positive energy to achieve a vegetation of higher quality. 

Aikaterini Gegisian’s installation “To be continued… Untitled” invites us into an aesthetically designed interior space that contains images of flowers and other plants, birds, animals and people. The artist, who has integrated organic farming into her personal life, transforms photographs of still life and wild nature into an ever-changing organic material that monitors the biological cycles of the earth and ultimately our lives. 

Kiril Prashkov in his series of works “Natural Modernism” – in a self-deprecating way – makes replicas of well-known works of 20th century art history by P. Mondrian, K. Malevich, M. Duchamp, R. Magritte and A. Calder, using mainly wood and straw. This formalist transformation, achieved through the use of purely natural materials, gives the works an unexpected handcrafted quality, translating the visual language of the originals and ultimately influencing their reception by the viewer him/herself.

Artists: Aikaterini Gegisian, Alexandra Marati – Anna Vadakoglou, Kiril Prashkov

Curator: Maria Tsantsanoglou

Exhibition supporter: BIOS AGROSYSTEMS 

MAP

VENUE

MAIN EXHIBITION

BEING AS COMMUNION

The central exhibition of the 8th Thessaloniki Biennial of Contemporary Art aims to think critically about co-existence and collaborative practices as creative tools for handling the multiple crises that we face. Thinking through being as communion, 28 artists via their respective practices touch on various forms of more than human collaborations, with our spectral past and our challenging present, thinking of how we can co-exist with animate life around us, the land that we stand on, the food that we eat and the air that we breathe. Being as Communion will focus on inclusive practices that explore different forms of care, love and mutuality, whilst also proposing generous forms of support systems. Invited artists and artist collectives will explore the human impact on the eco-systems that we share, whilst suggesting forms of more equitable existence, for humanimal survival, probing to what extent we can learn new ways of being with, rather than dominating the world around us.

Ten key sites and museums of the city of Thessaloniki will host the exhibition’s works, in dialogue with the city’s layered history, allowing for a polyphonic reading of the exhibition in ten equal parts.

04.03 –
21.05.2023

MOMus-Museum of Contemporary Art, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Museum of Byzantine Culture, National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, Hamidie – Islahane Cultural Venue, Eptapyrgio, Yeni Jami, Thessaloniki French Institute, Glass Box “Scultures’ Garden” (seefront area), Thessaloniki Concert Hall (building M2)

The central exhibition of the 8th Thessaloniki Biennial of Contemporary Art aims to think critically about co-existence and collaborative practices as creative tools for handling the multiple crises that we face. Thinking through being as communion, 28 artists via their respective practices touch on various forms of more than human collaborations, with our spectral past and our challenging present, thinking of how we can co-exist with animate life around us, the land that we stand on, the food that we eat and the air that we breathe. Being as Communion will focus on inclusive practices that explore different forms of care, love and mutuality, whilst also proposing generous forms of support systems. Invited artists and artist collectives will explore the human impact on the eco-systems that we share, whilst suggesting forms of more equitable existence, for humanimal survival, probing to what extent we can learn new ways of being with, rather than dominating the world around us.

Ten key sites and museums of the city of Thessaloniki will host the exhibition’s works, in dialogue with the city’s layered history, allowing for a polyphonic reading of the exhibition in ten equal parts.

04.03 –
21.05.2023

MOMus-Museum of Contemporary Art, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Museum of Byzantine Culture, National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, Hamidie – Islahane Cultural Venue, Eptapyrgio, Yeni Jami, Thessaloniki French Institute, Glass Box “Scultures’ Garden” (seefront area), Thessaloniki Concert Hall (building M2)

EXHIBITIONS

PROJECTS

09.02 –
30.04.2023

An exhibition collectively put together by curators of MOMus

21.12.2022 –
21.05.2023

ΜΟΜus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection

09.02 –
30.04.2023

An exhibition collectively put together by curators of MOMus

09.02 –
30.04.2023

An exhibition collectively put together by curators of MOMus

21.12.2022 –
21.05.2023

ΜΟΜus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection

BIENNALE 8

GEOCULTURA

The exchange of ideas, values and norms, within a context of a multitude of cultural, geographical and political debates and conflicts, is at the core of the concept of 'geoculture' in the political and social sciences. This is the rationale behind the decision of the 8th edition of Thessaloniki's Biennale of Contemporary Art to turn its attention to the terms 'land' (“geo-”) and 'culture', connecting the cultivation of land with culture, understood as a set of resources, texts and practices which are available to people, helping them better understand and more effectively act in the world. It explores issues of memory, history, and managing both the natural and man-made environment, under the conditions of the climate, economic and refugee crises.

The participating artists focus on histories of places and people; they touch upon issues of identity, ethics, equity and sustainability; they suggest improvised ecological technologies; they explore the potential for collective existence and question the systems by which production, consumption and profitability are organized; they put into practice ideas of resource sharing and equitable living, as well as ways of reassessing the commodification of human and non-human life. Through their works, imagination becomes a crucial factor in facilitating the audience to imagine different versions of the future.

Firmly believing that art broadens our understanding of the world, the 8th Biennale seeks not only to raise environmental awareness, but also to multiply future possibilities, with new claims and visions. The 8th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art aspires to serve as a means of communication with the world, as an act of justice and freedom, of trust and progressive thinking.

The Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art is financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund) is organised by MOMus and implemented by MOMus-Museum of Contemporary Art-Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and State Museum of Contemporary Art Collections.

The participating artists focus on histories of places and people; they touch upon issues of identity, ethics, equity and sustainability; they suggest improvised ecological technologies; they explore the potential for collective existence and question the systems by which production, consumption and profitability are organized; they put into practice ideas of resource sharing and equitable living, as well as ways of reassessing the commodification of human and non-human life. Through their works, imagination becomes a crucial factor in facilitating the audience to imagine different versions of the future.

Firmly believing that art broadens our understanding of the world, the 8th Biennale seeks not only to raise environmental awareness, but also to multiply future possibilities, with new claims and visions. The 8th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art aspires to serve as a means of communication with the world, as an act of justice and freedom, of trust and progressive thinking.

The Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art is financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund) is organised by MOMus and implemented by MOMus-Museum of Contemporary Art-Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and State Museum of Contemporary Art Collections.